Baklava Cookies – Low Carb & Gluten Free

I am 25% Greek and proud of it. My maternal grandfather was Greek and I grew up celebrating Greek Easter and eating baklava and stuffed grape leaves. I have many happy memories of going to my Great Aunt Alice’s house. The smell of roast lamb and potatoes would engulf me as I walked through the door. She lived in a town on the ocean, only a couple blocks from the beach, so that smell combined with the salt water smell was irresistible. It’s been many years since she passed on and my grandparents too. It’s been too long since we celebrated Greek Easter. My cousin decided to revive that tradition this year and I was more than happy to join in.

I volunteered for baklava duty since I have made it many times over the years and I had phyllo in the freezer already. The other reason was that I knew I could make myself an alternative at the same time. Many of the ingredients are the same but my version is low carb, gluten and grain free, sugar free, and a THM S. It is also egg free.

Pastry Dough:

3 oz cream cheese, softened

1 4 oz stick butter, softened

1 cup of my Local Blend Baking Mix (equal parts almond flour, coconut flour, and ground golden flax) or Trim Healthy Mama Baking Blend

Nut Filling:

¾ cup chopped nuts (I used ½ cup walnuts and ¼ cup pistachios)

½ tsp cinnamon

Syrup:

½ cup Trim Healthy Mama Gentle Sweet (or my sweetener blend of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia)

1 tbsp water

3 one inch pieces of lemon zest

1 cinnamon stick

3 tsp honey (optional, see note below)

A note on the honey: Traditional baklava uses honey to sweeten it. I really wanted these to have a hint of honey flavor. I looked online for sugar free honey, honey extract, honey oil, etc. but could not find a decent substitute. I ultimately decided to use a small amount of raw, organic honey in this recipe. Each cookie gets 1/8 teaspoon of honey. This equals less than 1 gram of carbs in each cookie from the honey. It is optional. They are sweet enough without it.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.

Mix the dough ingredients in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon. If the butter and cream cheese is room temperature they mix easily. Divide into 24 pieces and press into the holes of a mini muffin tin. Use a tart tamper, an upside down measuring teaspoon, or your fingers.

Combine the nuts and cinnamon. Divide between the prepared mini muffin tin. Bake for 20-22 minutes until the dough is golden. Cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, make the syrup. Combine the sweetener, water, lemon zest, and cinnamon stick in a small saucepan. Cook over medium low until it simmers. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Drizzle the syrup over the cookie cups. If using the honey spoon 1/8 of a tsp over each. Remove from the muffin tin and enjoy!

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